This is my second Dear America reread as an adult, after loving the series as a kid, and this novel was exactly the book I was hoping it would be! Maddie's father is in the Navy during WWII and she and her mother, who move often, live in a boarding house in Long Island, New York. All men over twenty years have to join the forces now, because we MIGHT go to WAR WITH GERMANY, but I still HATE Dad for going, I do, I flipping DO … except I don’t.’ (p6)

My Secret War by Mary Pope Osborne | Open Library My Secret War by Mary Pope Osborne | Open Library

Tying neatly in with the primary curriculum, this is the perfect book for enthusing nine plus children to learn more about this fascinating period in our history. -- Independent Bookshop Week supplement * The Guardian * Most years, the commemorations for Victory over Japan (VJ) Day on 15 August pass quite unnoticed by the general public. Compared to VE Day, the anniversary seems to hold less significance for many people. I walked into the living room to tell my wife the news. She was already miserable from the news about the war. When I told her she just sank into the couch. This is an absolutely beautiful book! Flossie is a young girl of I think eight or so when the second world war starts, and as the title states this is just basically her diary through to victory in 1945. It's simply written and has little non-war asides so her character really comes shining through. She lives in the country so her house of course ends up with evacuees from the city (and one German boy, Simon, who is another fabulous character) and land girls, she's far removed from the bombing action but not from the war itself - her mother died a year ago and now her father's off fighting so she has that fear that she and her baby brother (who we get to watch grow up) will end up orphans. Suppose your country began to change. Suppose that without your noticing, it became dangerous for some people to live in Germany any longer. Suppose you found, to your complete surprise, that your own father was one of those people.Some of the delightful elements in ‘My Secret War Diary’ by Marcia Williams Photo Source: Lisa Lacy A fascinating diary account of the Second World War, as seen through the eyes of a young girl. Flossie is just nine years old when, in 1939, Britain declares war on Germany and her father leaves the family home to join the army. Flossie is left to bring up her baby brother and to face a whole host of new experiences on her own. Her diary becomes an outlet for relaying all the news from at home and abroad. From the first evacuees arriving to her sweetheart's being killed in Normandy in 1944, Flossie has to endure much hardship. But her own special blend of courage, humour and fighting spirit sees her through to the Armistice, when she can welcome her dad home at last. About This Edition ISBN: Tying neatly in with the primary curriculum, this is the perfect book for enthusing nine plus children to learn more about this fascinating period in our history. -- Independent Bookshop Week supplement - The Guardian Two young writers have been named the winners of Poppyscotland’s learning competition, My Secret War Diary. - Liam McNamee Marcia Williams began to develop her distinctive comic-book style at an early age: "When I was about ten and wrote home to my family from boarding school," she says, "I never wrote normal letters. I tried to tell my family about what I was doing in a way that was more fun. Also, my parents didn't let me read comic books, so I decided to create my own."

War 2 | Literacy Classroom World War 2 | Literacy Classroom

Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - I have to kind of roll my eyes about the plot line with the "beach discovery." If one good thing came from it, at least Maddie couldn't brag about it! But I tend to dislike the books in this series where the narrator somehow plays a huge role in a historical event. Two young writers have been named the winners of Poppyscotland’s learning competition, My Secret War Diary. Maya's Entry. This is a book about Flossie Albright who was a child in England during WWII. This diary was written by Flossie, in her words, about her time living and growing up during war time. The book is full of pictures, drawings, and advertisements that Flossie has cut out and pasted into "her diary". We follow Flossie during pre-war when there are rumors of war, during the days of war when there are refugees, shortages, bombings, and ups and downs, and finally to the end of war with celebrations, homecomings, and coming to terms with those that won't be coming home. I had high hopes for this one because Mary Pope Osborne wrote Standing in the Light, one of my favorites in the series. However, My Secret War was just okay. I have mixed feelings about this one.Partly autobiographical, this is first of the internationally acclaimed trilogy by Judith Kerr telling the unforgettable story of a Jewish family fleeing from Germany at the start of the Second World War This is a historical fiction diary, in that it is written about an actual time and place in history but from the viewpoint of a fictional character. Many of the events in the book did actually happen, however the character of Flossie and her family and friends are fictional. Marcia didn't receive any formal art training. She calls herself "an obsessive illustrator. I've just always done it. I never consciously thought: that's what I want to do." She had a number of jobs, including nursery teacher, which is when she developed her taste for story-telling to young children; "I learnt what they found accessible and what they enjoyed." Giving up teaching to paint, she studied watercolour at Richmond College and held some successful local exhibitions before a friend suggested that she took her work to show Walker Books. I was surprised that the book is carefully measured in how the enemies are discussed. Maddie and her mother both think it's wrong that Japanese Americans have been imprisoned. However, parents should know that Maddie still uses a slur; it would be worth warning a child that this isn't acceptable language. Otherwise, however, this has aged pretty well. I'm always going to have complicated feelings about romanticizing war and nationalism, but I think Maddie realizes that war is not glamorous at all by the book's end.

My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck,… My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck,…

This is the war diary of 'Flossie Albright' who is a child living away from London with her Uncle, baby brother and for a while her dad (who joins the army). Flossie records what life is like/what happens to her during WW2. Flossie also experience evacuee's living with her. But Maddie is honestly super annoying in this diary. She's using her father's military service for social clout and has a pretty inflated sense of importance. The good work she's doing seems more about drawing attention to herself than really helping the war effort. Ultimately, though, she realizes this about herself and does change. While Maddie is not a particularly likable narrator, her self-absorption feels true to life. Marcia Williams' mother was a writer and her father was a playwright and theatre director. She spent the early part of her life in Canton, Hong Kong, Nigeria and the Middle East with her mother and diplomat stepfather. She loved books from an early age and remembers being read to almost every night; "I would often be scared, especially by fairy tales, but I never wanted the stories to end." She went to boarding school in Sussex, from where she sent weekly illustrated letters to her parents overseas.It was a normal day, or so I thought. I got up, I took a warm shower, I had eggs and bacon for breakfast, I was about to go to work and turned on the wireless. What I next heard from Neville Chamberlain made my jaw drop. I only remember him saying, “Britain is at war with Germany”. Something's up. Something big too, very big. At school, in the village, whoever you meet, it's all anyone talks about. It's like a sudden curse has come down on us all. It makes me wonder if we'll ever see the sun again."